Synthesis of poison dart frog toxin brings surprises

Brightly colored frogs from the Phyllobates genus hop about the Colombian rain forest without fear of being gobbled up by predators, thanks to (-)-batrachotoxin, a potent steroidal toxin in their skin. Natives of the region capture the frogs to use this toxin on the tips of blowdarts, giving the amphibians their more common name: poison dart frogs.

Toxic to the heart and nervous system, (-)-batrachotoxin is an agonist that forces open voltage-gated sodium ion channels. . . .